Turn back four years when the first year St. Thomas coach was
attempting to coax players to don Tommies garb after his new team
was 2-8 the previous year.

"We had nothing but this weird little short Italian man walking
in and promising a better tomorrow," Caruso said. That's the reason
this group is so special to me. They bought in without anything, no
facility. For nothing more than the promise of tomorrow. We're so
ridiculously blessed well beyond our means. The reason we've grown
every day, no matter what we have, is because the kids approach
every single opportunity like they have nothing."

In four years, the Tommies have plenty of accolades including
the school's first ever top three ranking as they are No. 3 this
week in the D3football.com poll. As the St. Thomas coach, Caruso
has led the Tommies to a 33-6 record, including two straight
playoff appearances and a Minnesota Intercolleigate Athletic
Conference title last year.

"I know we’ve come in three years from No. 200-whatever to
3, but I'm pretty sure the one from three to one is even tougher
than the one we've made," Caruso said. "I can completely understand
where those programs (UW-Whitewater and Mount Union) are. They
should be on a pedestal. It's consistency and longevity. Right now,
St. Thomas is just a blip on the radar; hopefully we can be a
stalwart presence on the Division III landscape."

That being said, Caruso is thankful for the place where his team
is currently, but is more concerned with Concordia-Moorhead this
Saturday.

"It's an awfully nice visual, nice to the work that's done thus
far." Caruso said. "I'd be crazy to say that I don't want to be
ranked. We all understand, there's a lot of good football teams out
there. It's an absolute honor that coaches and people think enough
of our work to place in the upper echelon nationally. What we have
to focus on is getting better this week and prepare for this
game."

Helping the Tommies achieve their goals have been some of the
guys that believed right away in Caruso such as wide receiver Fritz
Waldvogel, the school's all-time receiving yardage leader and
quarterback Dakota Tracy.

"There were some things that had to be done to find the types of
players we looking for," Caruso said. "It was relatively painless.
It happened relatively quick. We were thirsting for direction.
These were great kids, ready to buy into blind faith. I'm forever
endebted to their blind faith."

And the ability to continually strive for better things.

"We don't make the same mistake again and we get better," Caruso
said. "That's why this program has consistently moved in a forward
direction."

Spartans relishing 3-0 start

The University of Dubuque took care of business in its rivalry
game with Loras in the annual 'Key Clash' with a 41-16 trouncing on
Saturday, Sept. 17. Now it wants to see where it stacks up in the
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a huge battle with
Central on Saturday.

"It's great to have a start in the way that we are," Dubuque
coach Stan Zweifel said. "Central as successful a program as there
has been in Division III. They've had 50 consecutive winning
seasons, which in itself is unbelievable."

The fast start is the first time the Spartans have been 3-0
since 2007 and only the second time since 1984. A big reason has
been the way the defense has played. In three games the defense has
10 takeaways and nine sacks.

Zweifel said Saturday's contest will really see what direction
his team is heading in.

"(Central) plays with so much confidence, I think they believe
they're going to win every contest they're in," Zweifel said. "They
believe they can beat every team. We don't have it yet, we're
looking to find it. Do you get it by winning, obviously that helps.
It's one of those games Saturday that really will be fun, a
measuring stick for our program."

Another big factor has been the offensive prowess for the
Spartans. Quarterback Wyatt Hanus has completed 61 of 81 passes for
775 yards and nine touchdowns. His favorite targets have been,
Zweifel's son Michael with 481 yards on 31 catches and five
touchdowns receiving. Michael Zweifel also has been playing
cornerback on defense and returned a fumble recovery 31 yards for a
score.

Zweifel knows his son will be highly counted on both sides of
the ball, especially defensively in defending the brother
combination of Central quarterback Nate Snead and his wide receiver
bother Jeremy.

"We will have to slow (Nate) Snead down," Coach Zweifel said.
"He's a relentless competitor. We have to contain him and limit his
brother from making big plays. We respect them as much as any team
we play. We surely don't fear them, but we respect them. We're
surely looking forward to playing this game."

Another big clash in the IIAC

The top two teams last season in the IIAC will square off this
week as Coe (1-2) will be at No. 10 Wartburg (3-0) The Kohawks are
on life support if they want to make the playoffs for a third
straight season and must go into Waverly and knock off the Knights
for a chance to have that happen.

"We just have to play with a lot of more intensity, play hard,
try to improve from our game from Saturday and play with more
intensity," Coe coach Steve Staker said. "Under the circumstances,
it's one and done for us right now. We got to win out if we have
any chances at all to make the playoffs, we've got our backs
against the wall."

Quarterback Brad Boyle, came back from two sub-par performances
to complete 13 of 17 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown and no
interceptions. In the previous two games prior to Simpson, Boyle
was intercepted an uncharacteristic seven times.

"We're hopeful that this game turned things around for him and
he has a little bit more confidence in the way he's running the
team," Staker said. "That was just a vote of confidence for
him."

Wartburg coach Rick Willis knows Boyle is a threat regardless if
he's had a few off games.

"He's a proven player and certainly we have high regard for him
as a player," Willis said. "We take the threat he brings very
seriously. I don't put stock in him being off to a rough start.
We're capable of seeing what he's doing and were working to be
prepared for that."

We certainly know this is a big game every year, certainly
expect that to be a case as well."

On the flip side, the Knights (3-0) have had solid play for the
quarterback position as Dan Stiefel has completed 44 of 85 attempts
for 739 yards and four touchdowns.

"We've been getting consistent good play from our quarterback,"
Willis said. "Dan Steifel has been good in all three of our
ballgames."

Overall, the Knights have been finding a way to win games
according to Willis.

"I think the biggest thing the guys are competing hard and
have been able to persevere and battle through various challenges
through the first three weeks and have been able to find a way to
win," he said. "There are lot of things we need to do better. We're
a work in progress for sure, our guys are playing hard and
competing hard."

He did what?

Coe junior defensive end Frank Weymiller did just about
everything he could for his team in a 35-27 win Saturday over
Simpson. Weymiller broke Coe's single game record with six tackles
for loss, produced four sacks and 13 tackles, including 10
solos.

"Life wasn't too much fun for their quarterback," Coe coach
Steve Staker said. "He's quick, he's strong and he just turns it
loose."

Weymiller was humble about his performance and wants to
improve.

"It was a big pretty day for me I guess," he said. "I got in a
situation where I got to rush the quarterback at the end of the
game. There's always things you look back that you could've done
better. Overall I'm pretty happy with it."